Draft mechanism



Sgpt. 10, 1935. v J. 5. McPHERSON 2,013,759

DRAFT MECHANISM Filed Nov. 9, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 10, 1935.

J. s. MCPHERSON DRAFT MECHANI SM Filed Nov. 9, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwoe Mtov Patented Sept. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT -;OfF Fi-CE DRAFT MEcH nIs John S.'McPhers0n, Columbus, 0hio,'assignor to The Buckeye ;Steel' Castings Company, Columbus; Ohio Application November 9, 1931, Serial 1N0. 574,005 4 Claims. (Cl; 213-7) friction draft gears are inadequate to perform the function for which they are intended. The space provided for the draft gear in the present day freight cars is limited in so far as the width and depth is concerned. Provision can "be made, however, to increase the length of the gear and its travel, or to use two gears applied in seriesf My invention is related to the latter type, and one of the objects of the invention is toprovide a construction adaptedfor use-with tandem gears.

Another object is to provide such mechanism in which the slots for the horizontal key are much longer than those ordinarily employed, toaccommodate the tandem gears, and accordance with the presentinvention, thestriker arranged ,attheouter end of the draft deviceiselongated rearwardly and providedwith special slots for the horizontal key.

Another object isto furnish mechanism of this character, which the carrier for the coupler shank has a narrow coupler bearing and a wide seat onthe striker; the narrowcoupler. bearing providing clearance for projections at the front and rear end of the shank,

A further object is to provide a novel form of thimble adapted to be placed between the two gears; such thimble moving rearwardly with the gears on buff and functioning asa stop forf the rearmost gear during pull.

With the foregoing objects outlined; and. with other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described in detaiL'illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view partly inhorizontal section of my improved mechanism with the draft gears eliminated to facilitateillustration.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the same with the front draft gear omitted and the rear one shown in dot and dash lines.

Fig. 3 is a front end view partly in transverse .vertical section; the section being taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the .drawings, .1 designates the couplerandl the yoke, which in the construction illustrated, are connected by a vertical swivel pin 3. However, in so far as the general arrangement is concerned, the ordinary rigid fshank coupler and horizontal keyed vertical cast steel yoke can beused.

.The striker .4'in the present instance has cast integral with it the front draft lug'siwhichare slotted or'space'd 'apart' between their upperjand lower ends, by slots'fi 'for'the application of "the horizontal key 1. Due to the-double travel of the keyin buff, the slots mustbe long enough to provide. clearance for -the'key, 'making itn'eces- 10 sary .to cut throughtheflfollower bearingf'aces 8 of the-front draft lugs. However, in order to tie the top and bottom' portions of the front lugs together, U-shaped members orportions SWhich extend .rearwardly, are castintegrakwith the draft lugsi5. Inother words, thememb'ers 9 are integral withthe striker, and they provide slot portions 'rearwardly of 'the front draftlugs to receive the key .1. Heretofore, the slots equivalentlto the'dneslfi, were placed entirely in'front of the rear faces 8 of the front draft lugs.

The striker 4 is shown with a separate type of carrier] 9. This, however, is optionaLdeperiding on the type of couplerand yoke used, and whether a tieunder. the carrier and integral with the striker, is desired. With' the swivel type coupler, it is ,-necessary to use a removable carrier iron as shown. ,ln-accordancewith my invention, this earrieris so designed that clearance. is provided in the pull directionfor the bottom lugs 'II on'the coupler shank Land the bottom of the coupler head J2 in thebuif direction. Withregard to this,. it will be observe'd that the t'op pOrtion of the carrier fis'recesse d atthe rear, as shown at [0a,af1d this makesthe upper portion'of the carrier justabout-half as thick as the lower portion 0f-.t 1 1e same. 'I'hisnecessitates anarrower coupler bearing 13 thanYisusual practice, but in order R to ,obtain the desired stability, the flower part of the carrier is {widened out where it seats on the supporting lugs. l4 which'are integral with the striker. In order to provide clearancefor the usual carrier belt I 5, it will be noted that the $1110- porting lugs or legs [4 are lowered to; provide an extending foot [Bat each end of the carrier.

Another novel feature of the invention resides .in the floating thimble or follower block l'l which straddles the yoke butt [8 from the rear, thereby allowing the two gears to act in series under buffingforces. At this point it will be noted-that the 5 space l'la within theyoke will accommodate one draft gear while the other one Hbis arranged .re rwa dlvof s t im ml hu con tions, the straps I9 and butt of the yoke are floating members. The lugs 20 of the cast thimble act secured in position.

as rear follower stops for the front gear and transmit the forces through plate l9a to the rear gear lib. Clearance A is provided so that the yoke butt can move back between the lugs 20 an amount equal to the travel in buff of the front draft gear without contacting the front of the plate l9a of the thimble II. In pull, pressure is removed from the front of the lugs 28, and in order to prevent forward movement of the thimble H, the plate i9a is extended downwardly as at l 9b so that it contacts the yoke carrier and tie plate 2! which serves as a support for the thimble, as well as for the rear end of the yoke. A stop I may also be arranged at the upper end of the thimble if desired for limiting the forward movement of the thimble.

A special type of center casting and body bolster construction is employed with this novel draft mechanism. In the type illustrated, the center casting 22, the center plate 23, and the bottom flange web of the body bolster construction '24 are all cast integral. gear pocket extending near the body bolster cen- Due to the long draft ter line, it is believed that the usual built-up construction would be considerably weakened, and

for this reason, we have devised this special type of center casting and body bolster construction. This casting has a bearing plate 29, and is also provided with rearwardly extending flanges 36 to .23, and also acts as a spacer and reinforcement for the sills 35. Such flange is stiffened by the rib 31.

The flanges 26 act as the bottom cover plate for body bolster 28 to points between the usual side bearings and the center plate.

A carrier 38 for the rear draft gear is arranged 'just forwardly of the casting 22, and is secured to the outer flanges of the center sills.

To assemble this type of draft construction, the rear draft gear llb is first applied and held in place by the carrier 38. The yoke 2, with the front gear in position therein, is then raised between the sills 35, and the yoke and gear carrier 39 are applied. The thimble i1 is then positioned between the two draft gears and the carrier 2| is The coupler shank I, the swivel pin'3 and retainer, the horizontal key 1 and retainer, the coupler carrier l0 and bolt ii are then applied in the order named. Of course, if

desired, the swivel shank coupler, yoke, front gear and swivel pin may be assembled as a unit.

In operation, it will be understood that on pull, the yoke butt l8 will act to compress the front draft gear between the front follower and said butt, and at such time, the front of the rear draft gear will simply be pressing against the plate I 9a of the thimble, and the latter will not move forward, as it is halted by the carrier 2|. On buff, however, the thimble is caused to move rearwardly, when the force is sufficient, and this will act to compress the rear draft gear as well as the front one and has the effect of increasing the shock absorbing capacity of the draft mechanism in buff over'that in pull, by an amount equal to the capacity of the rear draft gear. The arrangement may be modified by placing a snubbed draft gear at the rear, that is, one that is held in from the spirit of the invention, as expressed in 10 the claims. What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In draft mechanism of the tandem gear type,

spaced draft sills, a yoke, a one-piecethimble 00- 15 operating with the yoke and forming lugs adapted to be engaged by the rear follower plate of the front draft gearing, a carrier positioned transversely of and attached to the sills for supporting the thimble for floating movement, said thimble 20 having a plate at its rear end adapted to abut against the front end of the rear draft gearing, and means including abutment surfaces on the plate of the thimble and carrier for limiting the forward movement of the thimble. 25

2. In draft mechanism of the tandem gear type, spaced draft sills, a yoke, a one-piece thimble cooperating with the yoke and forming lugs adapted to be engaged by the rear followerplate of the front draft gearing, a carrier positioned trans- 30 versely of and attached to the sills for supporting the thimble for floating movement, said thimble having a plate at its rear end adapted to abut against the front end of the rear draft gearing,

and means including abutment surfaces on the 5 plate of the thimble and carrier for limiting the forward movement of the thimble, said carrier also supporting the rear end of said yoke.

3. In draft mechanism of the tandem gear type,

spaced draft sills, a yoke, a one-piece thimble 00- 40 operating with the yoke and forming lugs adapted to be engaged by the rear follower plate of the front draft gearing, a carrier positioned transversely of and attached to the sills for supporting the thimble for floating movement, said thimble having a plate at its rear end adapted to abut against the front end of the rear draft gearing,

and means including abutment surfaces on the plate of the thimble and carrier for limiting the forward movement of the thimble, said carrier being detachably connected to the draft sills and also supporting the rear end of the yoke, whereby when the carrier is'detached the yoke, thimble and front and rear draft gearing may be removed downwardly from between the draft sills.

4. In draft mechanism of the tandem gear type, spaced draft sills, a yoke, a one-piece thimble cooperating with the yoke and forming lugs adapted to be engaged by the rear follower plate of the front'draft gearing, said thimble and yoke being positioned between said sills, carrier irons detachably connected to the sills and supporting the yoke, thimble and front and rear draft gearing to permit the yoke, thimble and front and rear draft gearing to be removed downwardly from betweenthe sills when the carrier irons are detached, said thimble extending from one sill to the other and having a plate at its rear end adapted to abut against the front end of the rear draft gearing, and means including abutment surfaces on the a plate of the thimble and one of said carrier irons for limiting the forward movement of the thimble.

' JOHN S. MCPHERSON. 

